YuGiOh GX Revised
by XatuAppraisal
Summary: Set under the premise that all the YuGiOh protagonists have sentinels sent from the future to ensure history occurs as it should. This particular story follows Noah (an OC - basically me) who acts as sentinel for Jaden Yuki... only problem is that he's lost his memories. This is basically GX rewritten to accomodate my character - intelligent and protective, but low self esteem
1. Duel Academy Exam

"It is the year 3764. My name is Noah Sapsford and I am a champion duellist, using a deck of duel spirits I myself discovered. Two had already revealed themselves to the world, but the rest had only shown themselves to me.

I and four other duellists have each been given a task. A task that needs to be completed if we wish to save the world.

There are five legendary heroes, each from a different time, each facing a different enemy. Me and my fellow sentinels are about to be sent back in time to make sure history happens the way it should. However, the technology being used has not been tested. We don't know what's going to happen to us.

James is being sent to 1998. He is supposed to safeguard the famous Yugi Mutuo. He is the greatest of us all, using a lockdown deck revolving around 'The Last Survivor from another planet' and using 'Forbidden Chalice' to allow himself to summon powerful monsters such as 'Black Luster Soldier – Envoy to the Beginning' or 'Alexandrite Dragon'.

Wesley is being sent to 2708 to watch over Yusei Fudo. He is the youngest of the five of us, using a dragon synchro deck with cards such as 'Stardust Radiance Dragon', 'Ancient Faerie Dragon' and 'Trident Dragon'.

Simon – who is being sent to 3212 to guide Yuma Tsukumo– is my best friend and not only a better duellist than me, but the one who introduced me to Duel Monsters. He runs many decks, but is signed to his Water deck. This uses cards like 'DNA Transplant' and 'Genex Ally' cards to make monsters Water Attribute and takes advantage of the 'Ice Barrier' synchro monsters for power and removal and XYZ monsters such as 'Bahumet Shark', using his effect for 'Acid Golem' and creature swapping for burn. He is the only one to ever have defeated James, taking advantage of 'Urgent Tuning' on multiple occasions to get stronger monsters than 'Last Warrior' in the turns he uses 'Forbidden Chalice'.

Charlie, who is being sent into the recent past (no-one has told us when exactly), is one of a kind. He uses cards which he collected as a kid, not ones which he has collected since – even though he'd be stronger if he did. His deck uses stall cards to stay on the field (like 'Krebons' and 'Marshmallon') or swarm cards to special summon easily (such as 'Marauding Captain' and 'Quillbolt Hedgehog', and his signature is his favourite card – Splendid Rose – even though he has no other plants in his deck. Despite this his deck revolves mainly around XYZ monsters such as 'Utopia', 'Blade-Armour Ninja' and 'Leviathan Dragon'. Some speculate that he cheats, but I believe he has a stronger bond with his cards than I do. He has seen the duel spirits of my friends and I have seen the spirits of his. He is possibly one of the most similar people to myself that I can know.

I have been sent to the year 2014 to look over Jaden Yuki. He's supposed to have been a great duellist who cared about his friends and the spirits of his cards, but had lost his way. I was told I'm supposed to"

This is what was written in the small book as I sit on the bench in this strange place. It looks like my name is Noah, which seems familiar. I woke up in the hospital, told that I was found unconscious in a storm with a deck of cards, my clothes, a guitar and this book. I was told it was my diary… but I guess I never finished the entry.

It's weird, knowing so much and yet knowing nothing about yourself.

"COMIN' THROU - UMPH!"

A 16 year old boy had been running through the streets but was now on the floor, along with the spikey-haired man he had run into. I decided to walk over and help them up.

"Take this. Something tells me it belongs with you." The spikey-haired man was giving the young boy a card. Suddenly he notices me. "You're a duellist too aren't you?"

"Erm…" How did I answer that? I guess I'll tell the truth. "I think so. I can't remember anything before waking up in the hospital, but I was found with a deck which has… Two of the cards… I can see them walking around sometimes. Almost like ghosts."

"That sounds AMAZING!" The boy had just spoken up. He seems kind, but a bit too hyper and confident. "I'm Jaden Yuki, what's your name?"

My entire being was instantly on DEFCON 2. This was the kid I was supposed to watch over. How do I react to this!?

"Something wrong?" The spikey-haired man had noticed I was looking off.

"Nothing… I'm just-" I recompose myself. "I'm Noah Sapsford. What's your name?"

Jaden looks like he's about to explode. "ARE YOU SERIOUS!? THIS IS YUGI MUTOU! THE KING OF GAMES!"

Yugi smiles. He seems to enjoy a little attention, but he doesn't seem at all narcissistic. "Yes, that's me. Do you mind if I look at your deck, Noah?"

I oblige and hand over the stack of cards in my pocket.

Yugi has a look through with occasional noises of approval. "This is generally a good deck. I'm confused as to the amount of blank cards in here though."

"Huh? Blank cards?" Jaden peers at my deck too. "He's right! Weird…"

They were right. Most of the cards were as they should be, but about 5 cards in the main deck and 13 in the extra deck were white!

"Maybe they'll show themselves when you get your memories back. In the meantime, you're a few cards short of a deck right now." He was right. With the blank cards, my deck was three cards short of the 40 card limit. "Here. They were asking to join you anyway"

Yugi was offering me three cards. The three Sky Scourge cards. They worked well with my deck and did seem to be calling to me. I took them.

"Thank you." I mean it. He's helped me out.

"Hey Noah." Jaden tries to grab my attention, which results in a window of opportunity for Yugi to leave. He takes it not even saying goodbye. "As you don't have anything else to do, why don't you come to duel academy with me? You look about the right age to enrol. We can take the exam together!"

I don't exactly have anything to do – that I can remember at least. I'm supposed to look over this boy anyway, so maybe this is the best way to do it. "I'm in."

We've just been allowed in the hall. Jaden's psyched, but I've been told that as we're late, our tests will be more difficult. Jaden had to face a 'Dr. Crowler'. He won (just), but now I have to face the head examiner.

"Are you ready for your test?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." I nod and the duel starts.

Opponent's Turn -

"I Draw!" The examiner seems a bit too enthusiastic… "I activate the spell card Ancient Rules to special summon Tri-Horned Dragon!" Suddenly an enormous blue dragon with a red, scaly stomach; three gold horns and large claws is stood in front of me, easily twice my height.

"Then I summon Witch's Apprentice." A small, 3-foot tall girl with white wings; a blue robe and a sinister smile suddenly floats out of the floor. "Due to her effect, all dark-type monsters get a 500 ATK boost and all light monsters lose 400 ATK."

"I place one card face-down and end my turn."

Hand: 3  
LP: 4000

My Turn -

I draw a card and look at my options. I haven't got a bad hand, but I don't have anything that can take on his Dragon.

"I play my trap card!" The test examiner spoke up. "If I have two or more attack position monsters, this card stops you attacking the weaker one."

It doesn't matter. I had already decided to try a slightly more… indirect way of getting through his defences…

"I play my spell card. Vanity's Forfeit forces us to send two monsters from our hand or deck to the graveyard." I sent Vanity's Ruler and Vanity's fiend to the graveyard, despite them being some of the stronger monsters in my deck. My opponent sent Zoa and Cosmo Queen.

"Now, by banishing a Light/Fairy monster and a Dark/Fiend monster from my graveyard, I special summon Vanity's Chaos." This isn't the strongest monster in my hand, but I can't summon my Vanity's Soldier without a tribute. On top of that, Chaos is a light monster, so it's attack is reduced, but that won't be a problem for long.

"I activate the field spell Vanity's Chapel. You can't special summon monsters now." This field spell has a nice ATK boosting effect as well, but 600 more attack points only puts me up to 2300 when I factor in the loss from Witch's Apprentice.

"Then I activate Dark Hole! This destroys all monsters on the field." This includes my monster, but…

"When Vanity's Chaos is sent from the field to the graveyard, I can special summon the monsters I banished to summon it."

"You cannot special summon Vanity's Ruler or Vanity's Fiend by their own effects. This move is illegal."

Thankfully, I have one more trick up my sleeve. "By the effect of Vanity's Chapel, any Vanity's monster can be special summoned, regardless of its own effect!" With all of my opponent's monsters gone and two monsters with over 2000 ATK on my field, I've won this duel. After I declare two direct attacks, the game is over and announced as an OTK.

End of Game -

After that duel, something bizarre happened. Time stopped. I looked in the crowd and no-one was moving. I saw a glass of water that had been spilled and the contents frozen in mid-air. It was quite a nice effect.

"Hello Noah."

I turned around to look at the androgynous voice. I saw a man with a white robe and green hair looking me in the eyes. He seemed vaguely regal, as opposed to his shorter; red haired; black-robed accomplice. I recognised them immediately.

"You're the Vanity's Ruler and Fiend."

"That's right." The fiend's voice was very scratched. Almost as if he'd been doing impressions of the rapper 'Pitbull'. "You called?"

This came to be by surprise. "Erm… I did?"

The Vanity's Ruler spoke this time. "Our apologies for being late. Time travel isn't easy in any world. Even the world of duel spirits." So I was indeed from the future. "We're aware that you've lost your memories friend. We'll always be close if you need us."

And time started again. A fat kid in Red Uniform got soaked with the water that had been frozen; a black-haired boy in blue was showing off for his two accomplices and Jaden was rushing towards me followed by a small kid with pale blue hair.

"I saw your duel!" Jaden had wasted no time in rushing over to me. "You were AMAZING! You have to show me your deck properly sometime!" Suddenly, he seemed to remember something. "Oh yeah, this is Syrus by the way." He points to the small boy behind him. I suddenly become aware that everyone here is shorter than me (except a boy in yellow uniform at the far back of the left stand).

"What's up?" I hold my hand out to Syrus, who takes it nervously.

"I… I saw your duel too. Do you think you could help me out when we get to school? I've never been too good with studies…" Why is this kid so shy? I may be tall, but I don't have tattoos, do I?

"And it's not like you're gonna be learning much at the school!" Jaden pipes up once again, with his comment being followed by a short laugh from Syrus.

All students who have passed their exam, please make your way to helipad 6. Your flight to duel academy will be leaving in 10 minutes (PA)

"We'd better get going." I start to leave with Jaden and Syrus, but after 20 steps, I accidentally bump into a blonde girl in blue and white. I quickly hasten an apology, but her friends won't let that slide.

"Watch where you're going! Do you know who this is!?" I say that I don't and say that I had apologised, which is when the girl steps in.

"I heard it. You're the new boy who defeated the examiner in one turn aren't you?"

I confirm her query, which immediately changes here friends' attitudes toward me. I heard apologies from around me, but I didn't care about them. I was interested in this person in front of me. "What's your name?"

"My name is Alexis Rhodes," she answers. It was a nice name and she seemed like a nice person. "What's yours?"

"My name's Noah. Noah Sapsford." Suddenly, the word 'NES' comes to mind, though I can't imagine why. Suddenly, the PA announces that 5 minutes have passed and we half very little time.

"You should get going." I really should, but I'm a little confused about something.

"How are you getting back?" I emphasise the 'you' as this is what I want to know. I can see the aircraft and it doesn't look particularly roomy.

"Obelisk Blue students leave for the academy in an hour, new arrivals do not." She seemed keen for me to leave… I can't be that creepy, can I? "See you at school."

She says this last bit with a smile, which calms me down. I again confirm and leave, overhearing her friends talking about whether or not I was 'cute'. This puts a smile on my face, though this ends up being the subject of many a joke at my expense during the journey to duel academy.


	2. Chazz Princeton is a douche

**Author's Note/ I have received mixed reviews on this. One just pointing out the weak points (chances of an FTK; Times of the series'; etc.), one calling me self-centred simply because I said the OC was based on myself and one saying my story was interesting. If you are going to point out problems, help me resolve them – don't just go on safari. This will be on-going, so if you wish to see the Vanity deck that Noah has – simply say so. If one person does, I will upload the deck (along with the effects/atk/def/attr/type/etc. of made up cards) as a separate story. I hope you enjoy chapter two!**

**Author's note end/**

Attention new Duel Academy students. If you look out of your window, you will see your new home away from home. Now, I know you're excited, but don't shout. She's quite a sight isn't she? Now move your seats back into an upright position, next stop – Academy Island. (PA)

No one had been excited. Bastion and a few others had been looking out the window, but that's about it. I was looking through my deck, pondering on the blank cards that Yugi had found in there. What were they? On top of that, I remembered what had been in my unfinished diary entry.

"…using a deck of duel spirits I myself discovered."

I had asked three people around what duel spirits were. One had called me crazy for thinking they exist and another had no idea what they were.

Only Jaden had given me a decent answer. "The name's pretty self-explanatory. Each card has the capability to summon a duel spirit, but so many people don't believe in them that they can't appear in the physical world. Only someone who believes in them can see them, and even then they're in the minority." I consider telling Jaden about the arena, but decide to ask him what he knew about the island. "Err… pretty much what was online. There's a volcano at the Far East, a harbour at the west, dorms and the main building on the island… You're probably better off asking someone at the dorms."

Once we arrived, we were marshalled into the main building and shown to a room lined with rows and rows of benches and a large stage in the centre. We were told to stand on the stage. Why would we do this? Are we supposed to perform? Do we do another test?

Suddenly, the screen in front of us sparked into life. "Good morning and welcome, my students!" The man on the screen was bald, but with a goatee. He seemed cheery, but I doubt he would be if he could hear Jaden snoring. "I am Chancellor Shepherd, the headmaster here, and YOU are the best and brightest young duellists in the world. Now please, get yourselves settled in at your assigned dorms. These will be sent to your PDA roughly… now."

The screen turned off, but that was it. Everyone waited for about 20 seconds, and then one person's PDA bleeped. Then another's. Within seven seconds, everyone had received a private message telling them where they were headed and Jaden had been shocked awake (yelling, "I'm awake!" as he was set off, but noticed by no one). I looked at my own message, thinking about what this message was going to mean.

I was about to be told where I would be living for the next… god knows how long. On top of this, I'll be in the same place as others who have been placed in the same dorm as me. This dictates my company for the majority of the time… who my-

"Haven't you looked yet?"

Jaden behind me was looking at me as though I was from the future (or at least as though I had just told him that). I looked at his PDA quickly, it still being in his hand. It had a solid red background and two words across the middle in white – SLIFER RED. That made me a little less nervous. I opened my own message, which followed the same pattern, but it had a different colour background and two different words printed across it.

Ra Yellow.

"Aw man." Jaden didn't make an effort in hiding his disappointment. "I guess that means we'll be in separate dorms." No shit.

We step outside. Jaden decides to hang around a bit longer, but I decide to head off. I want to see where I'll be living for my time here, so Jaden and I say our farewells and I follow the fleet of other Ra Yellow students. Well, other Ra Yellow students and three students in Blue.

"LISTEN UP! We're in charge here, so CALM THE FUCK DOWN!"

"There's no need to get so wound up Chazz…"

"ARE YOU TELLING ME TO COOL IT!?"

"No Chazz!" This was said quickly and out of instinct more than anything. I pushed my way to the front to see one of the students furious and yelling at his two accomplices. The two accomplices, although taller than their black-haired and enraged leader, seem genuinely scared of something.

"DAMN RIGHT YOU'RE NOT! Now, all you worthless worms!" He turned to the Ra Yellow students. "GET IN LINE." Most of the front got into single file, but I just stood there. I wanted to show this twat that he's got no right to walk all over us and it looks like the people behind me wanted to show this as well as they crowded behind me. "Are you deaf? I SAID GET IN LINE!"

"Why? You're not the boss of me." I decided I wanted to wind him. I looked at Chazz and saw a bully who shows off and lets the sheep swarm around him, but can't do anything himself.

"You're right; I'm not the boss of you. I'm the boss of every Ra Yellow student here today, so GET – THE FUCK – IN LINE!"

"What's with all this shouting?" Bastion chose a bad time to come into this battle of wills, although since Chazz's lackeys decided to show by his shoulders, it's lost any meaning to what it was before.

"Teach him a lesson." Chazz needed a lesson in subtlety. I would never have thought that I'd have someone try to attack me on day one, much less on someone else's command.

Both his flunkies were shorter than me, but they must have figured they had strength in numbers. One stepped behind me and grabbed my wrists. I applied some light pressure which was quickly pushed against. "This guy's weak! He's barely pushing against me!" Two of the crowd behind us moved into the line, four were left. The flunky in front pulled his fist back…

And I took my window. I quickly rammed my foot into his chest and extended my knee - winding him slightly, but pushing him a metre away and on his back. The guy behind me gets startled by this and I feel his grip loosen. I take advantage of this and wrench my left wrist out of his grip, which causes him to redouble his grip on my right arm. Being at least three inches than him, I swing him in front of me easily and grab his shirt.

The coward let go of my wrist and raised his hands in surrender, which I accept and let go of him. He scuttles to his ally and they retreat to their disgusted superior.

"Well, I'll give you that you can hold yourself in a scrap. But I bet you got through on a technicality or by a fluke!" This guy is pushing my buttons.

"If you're so sure, you won't be scared to face me in a duel and show the dorm." I won't admit that I did get lucky, but I bet I could easily wipe the floor with this arsewipe.

Chazz ponders for a few seconds, then gets his duel disk out and announces, "I think that's a good idea!" His two lackeys start snickering, so I call out at them. They shut up instantly.

I get out my own deck and get ready. This isn't a duel for the hell of it; this is a duel of vanity. Thankfully, I have just the deck for that…

"I hope you're ready, you worm!" Chazz starts grinning like he's been infected with NOx (laughing gas) as he draws his first card.

Opponent's Turn -

"I summon Newdoria in attack mode!" It's only got 1200 atk, why summon such a fragile monster in attack mode? "I end my turn, slacker!" Why would he bait me when he's not laying a facedown?

Hand: 5  
LP: 4000

My Turn -

I look at my hand. It's not as good as the one I had in my exam. Maybe I should play the defensive…

"I set a monster in facedown defence position." The monster I've set is Vanity's Angel, a level 4; light/fairy; normal monster with 1200 atk and 2100 defence. Not the strongest monster on the offense, but its defensive power makes it a wall against any enemy.

"Look at you! The weak little juvenile who's too scared to attack! I have no back row and one small fry on the front!"

I know he's baiting me and I won't fall for it. "I set one card two cards facedown and end my turn."

Hand: 3  
LP: 4000

Opponent's turn -

"My draw!" Chazz draws his card and I immediately step in.

"I play Vanity's Emptiness!" The card rises and the Vanity's Fiend appears, opening his cloak to reveal nothing underneath. The air seemed to get sucked into the white abyss within the fiend. "With this card in play, we can't special summon monsters."

Chazz seems uncaring by this. He re-evaluates his hand and makes his move. "I tribute Newdoria to summon Mefist the Infernal General!" As Newdoria disappears in a flash, a silhouette of a soldier on a horse appears out of a dark hole in the floor. "My dark general has the capability to destroy your life points even through a defence position monster! On top of that, when he inflicts damage, you discard a card!" Chazz is getting a bit too excited for my taste. "I attack your facedown monster! Be prepared to pay a nice chunk out of your life points!"

I doubt Chazz was prepared for what happened next. As Mefist's spear went into the centre of the facedown card, a yellow light appeared and a golden haired man appeared using his white-feathered left wing as a shield. Vanity's angel then, with a simple stretch of his wing, knocked the general straight into Chazz - who started glowing red. Vanity's angel had had 2100 def, but despite being tribute summoned, Mefist had only had 1800 atk, leaving Chazz 300 LP worse.

"Problem?"

"QUIET YOU!" Chazz was obviously not in his best mood. "I play two face-downs and end my turn."

"Before my turn starts, I activate my other facedown – Royal Decree." Suddenly, castle walls appear around the duel. Vanity's Fiend gets shocked with blue electricity and hits the floor, weakened. "The effects of all trap cards are negated. This double-edged sword means we can both special summon again and that your two facedowns – unless they're spells – are rendered useless. This negating also affects traps we both set in later turns." Chazz looks positively alarmed at this. His facedowns must have been his attempt at salvaging the game.

Hand: 3  
LP: 3700

My Turn -

I took a look at my options before I drew my card. I had a dead trap in my hand, so maybe I could draw a strong card with a discard cost…

"Draw already!" Chazz needs three lessons. Subtlety; patience and manners. Nonetheless, his point is valid, so I draw…

…and get one of Yugi's gifts to me.

The effects of all trap cards on the field are negated already, so if I negate all spell cards, we'll be relying on monster effects alone. Another risky move as Chazz's monsters seem to have strong effects, but they also seem to have low stats compared to my own monsters.

"I tribute Vanity's Angel to summon Sky Scourge Invicil." The angel vanishes in a flash of light, revealing a black figure with white wings; gloves and hair. She seemed to represent a balance of sorts between opposites. "Invicil's effect varies according to the monster I tribute to summon it. As I tribute a light/fairy monster, so the effects of all spell cards are negated!"

Chazz's face twisted with anger. He must be in a bad position, which means my gamble paid off. "I attack Mefist the Infernal General with Sky Scourge Invicil!" As she rushes to the opponent's monster, Invicil's body turns white as her wings; hair and gloves turned black. After phasing through Mefist (who explodes as he's passed through), Invicil keeps charging and phases through Chazz, who glows red as his LP goes down another 400. I end my turn and leave the ball in Chazz's court.

Hand: 3  
LP: 4000

Opponent's turn -

Chazz draws his card, evidently too focused on trying to win to engage in his trash talk.

"I play a monster in facedown defence and end my turn."

Hand: 3  
LP: 3300

My Turn -

"I draw." I've got a good defensive wall set up, but now it's time to take the offensive. "I normal summon Vanity's Ensemble." A colourless shell appeared, almost like a crystal. "When he's summoned, I send one dark/fiend and one light/fairy monster from my hand or field to the graveyard and his base atk/def becomes the combined atk/def of the monsters I discarded." I discarded Vanity's Traitor (1500/1500) and Vanity's Warlock (2400/1200). "Ensemble's atk/def is 3900/2700." Unless Chazz's monster has ungodly defensive power, I have him defeated. "I attack your only monster with Sky Scourge Invicil." As Invicil powered through the monster it turned out to be another Newdoria.

Suddenly, Invicil was grabbed by hands coming out of the ground. They clenched and she was destroyed. "When Newdoria is destroyed in battle, I target and destroy one monster you control! I chose Invicil, so spell cards such as Mystical Space Typhoon…" The card stated was revealed. "…which just so happens to target and destroy one spell or trap card that you control. I select Royal Decree!" A hurricane blows over our heads and the castle walls are torn down. "Now, I can activate trap cards and neither of us can special summon."

I can't be put off by this. The chances of Chazz's one facedown card stopping my attack are slim and if I do get this next attack to connect, I will win. "I attack directly with Vanity's Ensemble!"

"Sorry Worm, but I activate my facedown card!" Shit. "Sakuretsu Armour destroys one monster that declares and attack!" An armoured figured appears in front of Chazz and takes the attack. It subsequently explodes, taking Vanity's ensemble with it.

Now our fields are both empty except for Vanity's Emptiness on my field, which has turned out to be stabbing me in the foot. Normally, I could special summon Vanity's Pawn in defence position as I have no monsters on the field, but all I can do now is end my turn.

Hand: 2  
LP: 4000

Opponent's Turn -

"I draw!" Chazz seems to have his confidence back, the fickle bastard. "I summon Blood Sucker in attack mode!" A small red vampire appeared baring its fangs. "Then I play Mystic Plasma Zone, boosting the atk of all dark monsters by 500, even if it does reduce their def by 400!" A storm cloud appeared above, forming a vortex with the eye above the field.

"I attack you directly with Blood Sucker!" The vampire came at me bro and although I knew it was just a hologram, I still did not enjoy being enveloped. "Also, when blood sucker inflicts battle damage, you send a card from the top of your deck to the graveyard!" I milled Vanity's Fiend. "I place one card facedown and end my turn."

Hand: 2  
LP: 3300

My Turn -

I looked at my options. I could endure another hit from Blood Sucker, but then I'd have only 400 LP left. Almost any monster could wipe me out. "Make your move Worm!" I drew… and got the perfect card to end this game.

"I activate Vanity's Calling! This spell card lets me add one Vanity's monster and one Vanity's spell or trap to my hand! I select Vanity's Fusionist and Vanity's Weapon! Then, I normal summon Vanity's Fusionist!" Out of the ground, a masked man in black wielding a flute of sorts rose from the ground. "Vanity's Fusionist has 1400 atk, but as a dark monster, that's increased by 500." Chazz looks cantankerous that I've taken advantage of his card like this, but the best is yet to come. "When Fusionist is normal summoned, I can add a fusion spell to my hand. I choose Fusion of Vanity and activate Vanity's Chapel from my hand! This allows me to special summon Vanity's monsters regardless of their own effects or Vanity's Emptiness. I also activate Fusion of Vanity!" Suddenly, the air seems to get thicker and darker, almost as if it were turning a translucent black. "By using just any single Vanity's monster as a fusion material, I can fusion summon Vanity's Damien! As long as my fusion spell is Fusion of Vanity." A great behemoth of demonic bearing suddenly appeared, black and purple in colour with an under-bite almost as large as its canines. "This dark monster has 3000 atk to start with, but – although he loses atk when he's attacked or attacked directly – he gains 500 atk when he attacks a monster! On top of that, he gains 600 atk from Vanity's Chapel! Finally, I equip him with Vanity's Weapon! This spell card can only be equipped to a card when I control a Vanity monster and it reduces the equipped monster's def to 0, then it adds its base def to its atk, boosting Vanity's Damien's atk by another 1700! I attack Blood Sucker with Vanity's Damien!"

Chazz had no chance. Blood Sucker's atk was back down to 1300 and Damien's atk was up to 5800. As soon as the attack connected, the game was over and done with.

End of duel -

Clap. Clap. Clap.

"How impressive Chazz(!)"

Everyone had been so focused on my duel with Chazz that we hadn't noticed Alexis had come by and started watching whilst leaning on a tree less than 20 feet away.

"Erg- Alexis! What are you doing here!?" Chazz doesn't seem himself… Is he scared of Alexis, or embarrassed she caught him?

"I've been watching your show since Bastion arrived. Perhaps you should make yourself scarce Chazz?"

"You're not the bo-"

"CHARLES PRINCETON, IF YOU DO NOT LEAVE IMMEDIATELY, THIS WILL COME TO THE ATTENTION OF CROWLER; SHEPHERD; THE MEDIA-" This is what had the effect on Chazz. He looked alarmed for a second, then recomposed himself and raised his arms in surrender.

"So what's up?" I had walked over to Alexis and - seeing her still seething - decided that she needed a distraction from what had just happened in front of her.

"I could be a lot better. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to do that prick's job for him." After going to the front of the crowd, Alexis restructures herself and takes over leading the new Ra Yellow students to their dorms.

I walk after Alexis, following her lead as compliantly as I can muster. Bastion speeds up to walk with me and asks what happened, so I tell him what happened before he turned up.

"Well, I'm not surprised it was the media that got Chazz to leave." Bastion obviously knows something I don't. "His brothers control a great deal of industry, he's obviously got to keep a high profile on his name."

I decide to keep my mouth shut until we reach the dorm. When we do, each of us is given a room number according to our scores in the exam, higher numbers signifying higher scores. Bastion got the best number with his room number being 64, while mine was 63. "I guess we're hallmates, Bastion."

"Seems so. Here, let's find our rooms. As we got the highest scores in the exam, we'll be on the top floor. Need a hand with that?" Bastion made a motion as an offer to carry my guitar, but I refuse before I properly register what he's saying. It seems almost… precious, like it has sentimental value. It's probably something to do with my lost memories.

After we walk up the stair to the third floor, rooms 63 and 64 were less than 3 feet away. I noticed also that all the odd numbers were to the left and all the even numbers on the right side, but I ignored this trivial detail and headed inside.

The room was fairly standard. A single bed was immediately to the left of the door with white sheets and a single pillow; a small bathroom to right; a desk with a charger for the PDAs and a window on the far wall. I put the guitar I was carrying in the corner and looked into the window to look across the island.

It's a beautiful place. I looked towards the centre of the island and saw the large main building, massive in its size; a smaller, blue building a small distance away that was next to a lake; another building - almost identical to the last one - about a two minutes' walk away from its twin; a small beach to the left, just behind the small Slifer Red dorm. I felt kind of sorry for Jaden and whoever else was in that shack, but what really intrigued me was on the other side of the island.

A volcano.

I try to get a good look at it; however, Bastion is at the door before I get a chance to look at any details. Apparently there's some kind of welcome dinner starting in twenty minutes and that I should head down early, so as not to give the dorm head a bad impression. I decide to head straight down, hiding my guitar under my bed before I do.

The dinner was okay. Those with a higher score sat closer to the head of the table, where our dorm head, Sartyr, sat. He was a decent, if boring, guy. He seemed to get on well with Bastion though, so I let them be and started thinking about the events that would occur tomorrow. Class, back to room, study on the timed duels, some guitar playing, sleep, then repeat until the weekend.

After I got back to my room, I headed back to my window to look at the volcano again.

It was dark now, so the lava inside the volcano was giving off an amber ambience. The light reflecting on the few clouds in the navy blue sky made an amazing sight. I put my head on my hands and started to relax…

And was woken up by Sartyr knocking on my door at 11:55, saying it was time to go sleep. How bloody ironic. I looked at the grounds again and saw something that caught my eye. Two people dashing through the forest, almost as if they were headed for another dorm. I decide to leave and follow them.

I head outside and realise Sartyr is just down the hall, so sneak down the stairs to head out of the door to follow the people I had seen.

After following the trail to what had turned out to be an arena, I saw Jaden duelling Chazz. Is that guy really still picking on the new guys? I look at the other side of the arena to see his pawns. They instantly recognise me and shoot me filthy glances, which I answer with a stare of my own. I look a little closer to myself and see Syrus and Alexis talking. Evidently, he was having difficulty keeping up with the duel. I walk over, startling the two.

"Feeling better Alexis?"

"A little." Evidently that little was not much better, although I can hardly blame her. I ask her why Chazz irritates her so much. "Obelisk Blue is a dorm for the elite students. People get in through one of two ways: Hard work, or by having friends in high places." No prizes for guessing how Chazz got in. "Normally I don't have a problem with people getting to this dorm, but people like Chazz give us Obelisk Blues a bad reputation!" Fair enough.

Suddenly, I heard people walking about. They sounded close, but the echoes from the many empty corridors made it more likely they were a few minutes away. Alexis however, who was also aware of the unwanted company-to-come, was not settled by the news.

"Guys, we've got company! Campus Security!" I guess that means we're not supposed to be here after hours, as I doubt Alexis would be getting worried if we were allowed here.

Jaden however, did not put two and two together. "So? We're students here!"

Chazz looks more irritated at Jaden's idiocy than at the guards, but Alexis quickly fills Jaden in. "No Arena Duels permitted after 10pm. Chazz knew that…" She fires him a disappointed look. "… but I'm betting he 'forgot to mention it', didn't he Jaden?"

"Come on Chazz, let's go!"

The accomplices looked genuinely scared at this point, but Chazz himself just seemed disgruntled. Nonetheless, he decides a hasty retreat is his best option "Boys, it's time to go."

Jaden is appalled by this. "But the match isn't over yet!" I don't blame him for wanting to continue, but it was time to go and that was that.

Chazz however was less convinced. "Yeah it is. I saw what I needed to. You're a sorry excuse for a duellist, who got lucky against Crowler and got lucky tonight from the bail-out. Later, Slifer-Slime."

How arrogant could a man be!? I hadn't noticed myself storming over until Alexis had grabbed my wrist and tugged in an attempt to get me to follow. I followed the crowd that was just Sy, Jaden and Alexis to the exit.

"But I had him on the ropes!" Jaden was still annoyed at everyone having to leave in the middle of the duel, but he'd forgotten to keep his voice down. As I shushed him, Alexis butted in.

"It looked to me like it could've gone either way." I agreed.

"Not with this card." And he showed monster reborn. If he had special summoned Flame Wingman from the grave and destroyed Mefist, he would have won easily. I looked around as I saw everyone clicking to the same thought, seconds after I had and we continued walking for about 30 seconds before the path divided into four.

"Well, we'd best say arrivederci." Suddenly, I notice three perplexed pairs of eyes focused on me. "It felt like the thing to say. I think it means bye."

"That seems fair…" Syrus is speaking up for once? "Well, goodbye." And he follows Jaden to the Red dorm.

I notice after a few seconds that Alexis and I are walking in the same direction. "Is the girl's Blue dorm in this direction?"

"Of course not, I'm making sure you don't get lost. This is a big island for some people." I can tell there's something she's not telling me, but it takes another five minutes and the Yellow dorm to be in sight before Alexis finally talks.

"I know that you lost memories."

Oh.

"How do you know?"

"Syrus told me what Jaden had told him." Why would Jaden tell some random guy about another random guy he had met only twenty minutes before the previously mentioned random guy to whom he was telling? I need to refocus.

"That's why you accompanied me to my dorm? Too scared I'd lose my memories again and leave a trail towards your delinquent saunter?" I guess it's as good a time as any to start teasing.

"Of course not." Alexis doesn't seem to be taking my jests for what they are… "I'm just a good role model." I cough loudly at that statement, as if to express utter disbelief. Alexis turns in mock horror, but it's when she sees my grin that she realises my bantering is what it is and giggles. "Maybe not the best one, but I try my best."

I start walking towards the dorm, but continue talking as I do. "I can tell." Alexis turns away and starts to go towards her own dorm, but I stop and call out to her once more and say one last word. One last word to show appreciation for accompanying me tonight.

"Thanks."


	3. The Hand of Sin's first appearance

"Duel monster cards can be grouped into normal monster cards, fusion monster cards, ritual monster cards, effect monster cards, trap cards and spell cards." It was our first lesson of the school year and it was decently interesting, even if it wasn't what Alexis was saying that roughly half the guys were focusing on. "Trap cards can be further divided into normal traps, counter traps and continuous traps. Spell cards can be segregated into normal spells, continuous spells, equip spells, quick-play spells, ritual spells and field spells." This perfect recount off the different types of cards was quite impressive, but no-one was more impressed than Dr. Crowler.

"Perrr-fect!" Cooed our teacher and head of the Obelisk blue dorm. "Well done Alexis! Of course, I wouldn't expect anything less from one of my Blue Obelisks!" I'm oddly reminded of Chazz's elitism… "Hmmm… Now who shall we question next…?" He started looking along the front rows towards the Slifer Red students. Maybe he's not that bad.

I look to my right and see Bastion entirely focussed on Crowler, whom I had dubbed 'Creepy Crowler' due to his overly Hermaphrodite voice and appearance (he was worse than the Vanity's Ruler in this way), whilst everyone else in the back row of the yellow section was talking quietly. I had recently been told that the greater the marks, the further back you sat, so we in the back row of the Yellow section were basically the people who should be in Obelisk Blue, but just got in through the entrance exam. No-one in the entrance exam could get higher than Yellow, so we have to wait until the first dorm switch exam – which takes place on the last Friday of each month.

"YOU! Syrus Truesdale!"

Evidently Creepy Crowler had made his decision and changed my opinion of him. Everyone was aware of how shy Syrus is, so why pick on him in class? "Y-y-yes?"

"Explain to the class what a field spell is!" At least he knew this one. I had heard him and Jaden discussing them on the way to school this morning, so he wasn't in trouble.

"A-a-a field spell is- i-it's the thing tha-that-that affects the thing that is… ah-" Poor guy. This bod really suffers from stage fright... He probably know more about field spells than half the Slifer Reds, but when you're put on the spot in front of 200odd people…

"EVEN PRE-DUELLISTS KNOW THE ANSWER TO THIS YOU SLIFER SLACKER!" This comment from the smaller of Chazz's lackeys got three quarters of the Obelisk Blue students roaring with laughter – met my over half the class' menacing stares - and about ten percent of the Yellows sniggering guiltily, but hiding it.

"No! I know! It's a-a…" You really have to feel for Sy right now… The lad's trying to redeem himself, but has ended up making things worse for himself. I catch Bastion shifting his gaze to Syrus quizzically, almost observing human nature as an outsider. I catch Jaden whispering into Syrus' ear. Good idea. A confidence boost was probably what he ne-

"I think not!" Creepy Crowler had had enough, and, although I don't blame him for trying to keep the Blues quiet, it took a lot to stop myself walking up there and punching him in the face after what he said next. "Now sit down, and could someone give me the answer? NOT someone wearing red thank you." This comment wasn't what I hated; it was how the laughter from the Blues and many more of the Yellows – none of whom had decided to conceal their mirth this time – was fuelling him. This guy had no right to educate kids while he was picking on them for others' pleasure.

I notice Syrus muttering to himself before I hear Jaden stand up and speak. "Y'know something teach? You shouldn't make fun of us Slifers like that." This catches Crowler's attention, although not for the reasons I wanted it to. "I mean, I beat you. So if you make fun of us, you make yourself look even worse!" This got laughs from many of the Yellows – myself included, a few of the Blues and ALL of the reds.

I saw Creepy Crowler's face twist with rage at this, but I saw more than that in his eyes. It was almost as if he had declared a grudge or hatred for Jaden. I decided it wasn't worth trying to learn any more – as did everyone else (except Bastion of course, who persisted in poring over his book) – and decided to have a talk with Tory, a girl in front of me who would giggle at anything and everything you said to her, for the last five minutes of class as we weren't going to get any more work done.

After that class, the students were given a five minute break while the teachers changed. A few people moved about for a while to natter with each other, but I stayed put. I saw Jaden at the centre of a small crowd at the front, evidently revelling in the hero worship he was receiving for standing up to Crowler. Suddenly, the next teacher walked in.

"Hello class!" This professor had a softer and kinder voice, so I started to relax a bit, despite the class starting. "As some of you students know, my name is Professor Lyman Banner and I specialise in the lesser known tactics and strategies that some might consider to be… unnatural. Duel alchemy for example is a tactic where you use fusion monsters as fusion material. This is primarily done in dragon decks which revolve around 'Five-Headed Dragon'. This is because this immensely powerful monster requires many materials, totalling to five, so duellists require strong monsters to maintain a defensive presence on the field to keep the duel going long enough to get the required materials to your hand or fie-" Another teacher's eyes wandered to Syrus… This teacher had better not be a bully as well. "Syrus?" That was odd. I'd expected Banner's tone to become stronger or rougher, but he seemed to simply be asking a question.

"Y-yes Professor Banner?" Syrus was still shy, but evidently more familiar with this teacher than the others. Perhaps he's the head of the Slifer Red dorm? It would make sense as Crowler's the head of Blue and Sartyr's the head of Yellow.

"Could you please do me a favour and grab Pharaoh?" I guess he was just asking a favour. Syrus' confusion was evident from his repetition of the last word, to which Banner responded, "Unless you are minoring as a scratch post." Not the wittiest thing I can remember hearing, but I recognised it as a jest to make Syrus comfortable rather than to make him feel humiliated, nonetheless, a few seconds later, Syrus had picked up a cat – quite large for its height – and walked to the front to pass him to Banner. I guess he was genuinely being used as a scratch post.

I suppose Banner's a decent guy. If I need help with something, I'll probably ask him as Sartyr had the habit of boring my arse off whenever I tried to have a decent conversation with him last night and as Crowler's… well… a dick.

The class went batter than the last one, but after this lesson, all the students were to change into their P.E. uniforms. In the guy's changing room, I saw Jaden having trouble getting into his locker. Syrus came to his rescue and let him use his own locker to hold his stuff, but I told Jaden to talk to Banner about his locker problems. After receiving his agreement, we all went into the gymnasium.

Our instructor for the semester was Miss Fontaine. She was a little overly enthusiastic, but was easily the nicest teacher I'd been under (and after I thought that, I realised that I needed to clear my head). I noticed Sy headed back to the locker room for a few minutes and come back jittery, but I thought nothing of it.

After class, I decided to head for the volcano. It wasn't off limits as far as I knew and yet no-one went there, so I figured why not. I wasn't in the mood for company, but something came up on the way that made me change my mind.

"Hello stranger!"

On the way to the volcano, I passed many students – most of whom ignored me. It was only when I passed Alexis that anyone had bothered acknowledging my existence. "Hello Alexis, how are you?"

"So formal, sir!" A couple of people had picked me up on that in P.E., but I had cast it aside. It's odd that I only mull it over after Alexis brings it up, but I decide to focus more on it later. We begin to walk together, although I'm unsure if Alexis is aware of where we're going or not.

"What're you up to then, little miss nit-pick?" Alexis ignores this raillery - possibly for my own good - and continues on with the conversation.

"I'm just avoiding Crowler-" I interject with my nickname for him, which provokes a small fit of laughter - something that raises my own spirit. After recovering from her outburst, Alexis tries again. "Yes, I'm avoiding Creepy Crowler. Jasmine and Mindy told me he was looking for any Obelisk Blues who haven't done enough timed duels to stay in the dorm…" At my puzzled expression, Alexis explains that we're given duel scenarios on our PDAs and we're supposed to have at least half of them done if we want to stay in or rise to the Obelisk Blue dorm.

"All the Obelisk Blues who just came up to Duel Academy went to Junior High. We got top of the classes there, so it was logical to put us in the top dorm here." After hearing this, something came back to my mind. Something from last night.

"Chazz is an Obelisk Blue." Alexis confirmed.

"Chazz is in our year." Alexis confirmed.

"You two have some kind of history, don't you?" Alexis didn't say anything, but her silence was probably a more effective confirmation than if she'd said yes.

After half a minute, she started talking. "Our fathers grew up together, so we already knew each other well when we went to Elementary. The thing is that a few days before we went to D.E., Chazz's brothers had an argument with… someone I cared about." I asked hew who this was, but she continued her story - ignoring or unaware of my interjection. "Me and Chazz got to school and it was the first thing we spoke about and we had our own argument about it. We ended up constantly trying to one-up the other… In the end, it was like we'd always been at war."

I was moved. I was about to suggest she write a book about it, but decided against it. I moved the conversation to a more positive note. "Who are Mindy and Jasmine?"

Alexis seemed a lot more comfortable with this question. "Some friends who came up from Junior High with me. Jasmine's always been a nut about Girl Power, even if she has been calming down. Mindy's just… one of those girls who it's impossible to dislike, no matter how much she annoys you."

It seemed like Alexis was the responsible one in this trio. I'd have put her down as the type of girl who keeps everything together myself.

"Oh god, I'm sorry…" What? "I just remembered…" Oh…

I don't have anything to say to keep this conversation going. I lost all my memories of my old friends, of growing up, everything…

"It's fine. I asked, you responded. What's there to be sorry for?" Alexis seemed comforted by this. I asked her about the timed duels before and she said they were on our PDAs. We simply handed them in for a few seconds at the start of our dorm switch exams. She explained how to get to them and explained that we could see the opponent's hand and their facedown cards, but we had to win in one turn.

It wasn't until we got to the Volcano that Alexis realised this was where we were going all along, but she didn't complain. We just sat down near the crater so that we felt the warmth from the magma inside and relaxed, doing timed duels on our PDAs. After two or three hours, Alexis had done another 15 (which put her total up to 58), whilst I had done 64 out of the hundred. Alexis was shocked and impressed at how quickly and efficiently my mind had worked, but it seemed natural to me. Almost as if it was not schoolwork, but a puzzle game to squander time away…

"Come on Noah, we've been here for nearly five hours! People are going to start rumours…"

It wasn't until 21:30 that Alexis and I had decided it was time to go back, but it was a few more seconds before I realised with a loud groan that the Ra Yellow dorm was on the other side of the island - over 25 minutes away… This made Alexis giggle so much that I shoved her, but I got a harder shove in return. After threatening to leave her alone in the dark forest, I managed to goad her into chasing me through the trees. In less than five minutes, we had already gone through the 10 minute walk from the crater to Alexis' dorm.

"That was quick!" I could feel my heart beating at nearly double its normal speed. "Hopefully the rest of the walk will be just as swift…"

Before she was able to remind me about my journey to come, Alexis and I heard her name being called from inside the gates. I looked to see Alexis' two accomplices on the day of my exam and…

"Syrus! What are you doing here?"

He couldn't speak. The red-haired of the girls was holding the back of Syrus' coat and her height compared to him was raising his red jacket up to cover his mouth.

"Stupid guy came to our dorms with this." The girl holding Syrus held up a letter. It had a shapeless red smear on the side which opened to reveal the letter inside. She passed it to the black haired one who carried to it over to Alexis, then turned to me and said hi. After reciprocating the greeting, she started asking me a couple of questions. Simple things like my name and how I heard of duel academy, but when she started asking about where I was from, I asked Alexis for the letter.

As she passed it over, she stated that she absolutely did not write it. After reading it, I could see why. It was a love letter - supposedly from Alexis - to Syrus. I read it all the way through and looked at Alexis, who looked mildly disturbed at the contents. I was about to ask Syrus about it, but Jasmine refused to let go until she was outnumbered three to one (not including Syrus, but I'm sure he would've gone for being let go).

"Where did you get the letter dude?"

"I found it in my locker when I went back to change my shoes in P.E." Syrus' explanation explained why he was jittery when he came back. Jasmine blurted out that she thought it was bullshit, saying it was just a lame attempt at attention seeking (also saying she'd expect nothing less from a guy) but I saw from Syrus' expression that he wasn't lying at all. I took a closer look at the smear.

On closer inspection, the smear was a dark pink. It felt greasy. Almost solid, but equally lubricous.

"It's lipstick." Alexis had piped up, evidently aware of my ignorance. I looked carefully at her lips and saw she was wearing some too, but nowhere near this much. Jasmine piped up about it not being Alexis' colour either (whatever that means). Suddenly, I heard people running up to us from behind.

"Syrus? Noah? What's going on? Oh, hi Alexis." Jaden had arrived to the scene, apparently because some guy called Chumley had noticed Syrus cheerier than normal and that he had left early. I would've been a bit offended as it was the cheeriness that made people think something was wrong, but Syrus wasn't upset. He was miserable.

Still, after filling Jaden in on what I had witnessed, he seemed up to date. After a few more moments I remembered something from earlier.

"Syrus let you put your boots in his locker didn't he?" Jaden nodded and Syrus made a weird noise of realisation. Mindy was still clueless, but Jasmine had understood. "Someone could've been trying to embarrass Jaden for doing the same for Crowler…"

"Pffft. Paranoid much?" Jaden obviously didn't believe it and to be honest it sounded horrendous when I said it out loud. Still, we know someone left a fake letter and Syrus found it. After apologies to the girls for disturbing them and some advice not to come through the gates again in case teachers catch and expel us for perversity. It was good advice, so, after a thanks, we all left for the dorms.

"Well, that was entertaining(!)" My sarcasm was meant to lift everyone's spirit, but only half worked. While Jaden smirked slightly, I could almost feel Syrus' mood drop even more.

"Calm down Sy. You fell for someone's joke, it's over. Move on!" Jaden may not have approached this in the right manner, but his point was valid. What's done is done.

Still, Syrus doesn't improve. It's not going to do good to keep taking stabs in the dark (metaphorically) and repetitively hit Syrus by mistake. I decided to ask plain and simple what was wrong from his point of view and I got a response that I hadn't expected, but should have known was coming.

"All I've done is make the Slifers look bad. I faltered at a simple question today, thought that ridiculous letter was for me and even acted on it! Anything I do to try and remedy the situation just makes us seem worse." I don't point out that I am in fact Ra Yellow, but Jaden doesn't seem bothered at all by Syrus' schoolboy errors.

Suddenly, he comes up with an Idea. "A duel always cheers ME up Sy, why not try one?" This idea is cast aside with a statement of Jaden's skill in comparison to his own and the frequency of his losses.

"Why not duel me?"

The words had popped out of my mouth before I had realised they had gone through my head. That was a ridiculous idea! I'm supposedly a champion duellist (albeit an amnesiac as well) and Syrus has seen me duel. Nonetheless, Jaden thinks it's a great idea.

"Yeah! Go on Sy, what's the worst that could happen?" Syrus brings up the rule Chazz had ignored when he had duelled Jaden, but forgot it was specifically arena duels that were prohibited. After caving in, Jaden pulled me over to ask something crucial.

"Don't just try to win, okay? Wait 'til Syrus gets pumped, or he'll just get more depressed."

After nodding, me and Syrus put a decent distance between each other and drew our first hand.

My turn -

I offered Syrus the first move, but he didn't take it. Reluctantly, I drew.

I had a decent hand. More defensive than offensive, but if I wanted to coax Syrus out of his shell, that was mandatory. "I play Vanity's Forfeit!" With this spell we both send two monsters from our hands or decks to the graveyard. I send my two ace monsters - Vanity's Ruler and Fiend - to give Syrus a chance. He sends… two Bokoichi the Freightening Cars. At least he's sending weak monsters instead of strong ones, but how weak will his deck be if he's running those?

"I set two facedowns, a monster and end my turn."

Hand: 2  
LP: 4000

Opponent's turn -

"Let's get this over with then…" Syrus is evidently not enthused to be in a duel, but after he draws a card, his face lights up in a sort of… surprise.

"I play Tribute to the Doomed!" And I was worried about this guy having weak cards in his deck. "I discard a card from my hand to destroy a monster on your field!" The monster he discarded was… another Bokoichi. My destroyed monster was Vanity's Spy, a weak monster that could SS itself from the grave purely as tribute fodder. "I then play the spell card Tri-Wight." The three Freightening cars appeared out of holes in the ground, forming a wall of sorts. Was he going to tribute them to summon a really strong monster or… "I set a monster and end my turn." So he was setting up a large defence. I can see where he's coming from, but no facedown spells or traps?

Hand: 2  
LP: 4000

My turn -

"I draw." I look at my options. With only three cards in my hand, I had few options. I could try to set up more defence myself, but Syrus might get suspicious. I decide to go for the offensive, but maybe Syrus has something set up with that facedown…

I can mock the offensive and get an insanely powerful monster to my hand, but it takes loads to summon it. I'm never going be able to bring it to my field, so it should frighten Syrus into brining his game to the field.

"I set three more cards. When there are no other cards in my hand, I can special summon Vanity's Underdog from my hand. When this happens, his base atk/def are doubled and I can add two Vanity cards to my hand. A monster and a Spell/Trap." I add Vanity's Chapel and Vanity's Hand - a 4000 atk monster that requires Vanities' Emptiness, Ruler and Fiend. It also requires a card that negates the effect of Vanity's Emptiness, whether it's Royal Decree, Vanity's Chapel or Vanity's Warlock; so when Syrus saw the revealed monster had 4000 atk, something clicked in his head. I saw him get serious in that instant and look to his facedown monster - my first target.

"I activate Vanity's chapel! This boosts the atk/def of all my Vanity's Monsters by 600 and prevents you from special summoning. Then, I attack your facedown card with my 3000 atk Vanity's Underdog!" From below the card came… another train, but it looked different to the Bokoichis. It looked more aggressive and… like the main carriage of a large train.

"When Dekoichi the Battle Locomotive is flipped face-up, I draw a card." He drew one for his deck. "Then, I draw another card for each Bokoichi face up on my field. I have all three!" He drew another two cards from his deck, I was impressed. With this set-up, he had drawn four cards from his deck, completely restocking his hand. I wouldn't be surprised if he used Shallow Grave and Book of Taiyou to draw another bundle of cards! After Dekoichi was destroyed, the Bokoichis seemed to get really nervous, but I ignored them. They were just holograms right now.

"I end my turn."

Hand: 1  
LP: 4000

Opponent's turn -

"I draw!" Syrus' eyes glint at his drawn card. "I play Vehicroid Connection Zone!" What's that? "It's a special fusion card exclusively for Vehicroids. While it doesn't work non-Vehicroid monsters, it can't be negated by spells, traps or effects and neither can the monster's summon!" Syrus doesn't stop impressing me! He's a really strong trainer, but he just suffers from nerves. If he had Jaden's confidence, he'd be in Obelisk Blue! "By sending Steamroid, Drillroid and Submarineroid to my grave, I summon Super Vehicroid - Jumbo Drill!"

The ground glows a bit, but nothing happens. Is there something wrong with the disks? Suddenly, the ground opens up… and a living drill the size of my bedroom rises out of the ground. It seemed powerful and rightfully was! With 3000 atk, it was equal with my Underdog! "Then I summon Expressroid!" A monorail train of sorts came by with… only 400 atk? "When it's summoned, I can get two Vehicroids from my grave and add them to my hand." He chose Steamroid and Drillroid, not that he seemed to need them. I guess he wanted some backup in case he lost his big monster. Something that I guess was a clever move after all…

"I attack Vanity's Underdog with Super Vehicroid - Jumbo Drill!" With their equal atk stats, they would destroy each other. I have to do something…

"I activate Vanity's Shield!" The Ruler and Fiend of the Proud leapt out of the ground and grabbed the drill by the bit and squeezed until it exploded. The force from the explosion focused itself at Syrus as the 3000 atk of his destroyed monster was taken out of his life points. He picked himself up and I noticed something in his eyes.

He wasn't sorry his monster got destroyed, he seemed focused rather than let down. Perhaps this duel was doing what it needed to.

"I play Lightning Vortex! This destroys all your face up monsters at the cost of one card in my hand!" As soon as sent the card to his graveyard, a hole appeared in the ground below Vanity's Underdog and he was dragged down by ropes of pure electric energy and the hole was sealed when he was below ground level.

"I place one card facedown and end my turn."

Hand: 3  
LP: 1000

My Turn -

"I draw!" I looked at Jaden before I looked at my card. He couldn't keep a grin of his face. He was obviously trying to stop himself blaring in excitement, so it was a safe assumption to presume that Syrus was as well. It's decided. This turn will be the last one.

I drew… Dark Hole. Not exactly useful as I need something to defend myself with. I need something to add a Vanity monster to my hand.

Then I remembered that I can.

"I activate the effect of Vanity's Spy in my grave. By removing him from the game, I can add one 'Vanity' card from my deck to my hand." I added Vanity's Chaos. "Then I activate Vanity's Emptiness. This card prevents us Special Summoning, but as Chapel is on the field, I'm exempt from that effect. I also remove Vanity's Ruler and Vanity's Fiend from my grave to summon Vanity's Chaos from my hand! I then play Dark Hole!" A black hole opened up in the middle of the duel and expanded until none of the monsters could be seen. When the darkness cleared, Vanity's Ruler and Fiend were left behind. "When Vanity's Chaos is sent from the field to the graveyard, I can special summon the monsters I banished for its summon."

With Emptiness, Ruler and Fiend on the field, I was set up to bring out my strongest monster. "I summon Vanity's Hand!"

At first nothing happened. I didn't understand… was there something wrong with th-

And a flash of light blinded all three of us for nearly five seconds. By the time we had recovered our sight, we were knocked backwards by the sight in front of us.

A large and prismic hand was floating in the air, upright and roughly eight foot above the ground. It seemed to be shining white like a god of sorts, but a closer look and you could see it was pitch black underneath the glow. The aura wasn't coming from the hand though. Each square inch of the pitch-black polygon had pearly armour - the true source of the glow - on its face, leaving the vertices and edges exposed. Roughly as big as the Obelisk Blue Boy's Dorm, it looked powerful - and with 4000 atk and 3950 def, looks were not deceiving.

I looked at Jaden and saw him staring at the appendage floating in the air in wonderment. I looked at Syrus and he was doing the same thing. Was this card different from the norm? I looked carefully at the card. It had 10 stars at the top of the card, more than I'd seen on any other card. Was this a symbol of its power in some way?

I heard footsteps and turned around. Alexis and Mindy had come to watch our duel instead of going to bed. I get that it hasn't been too long since we left their dorm, but it was still after 10 O'clock. Then again, the light that had blinded us probably acted as a beacon that led them right to us. I heard more footsteps around us. Other people from the Red, Yellow and Blue dorms were watching. Most were looking in awe at my monster, others were chatting to try and get the full story and a few were shouting my name. I noticed that one or two people were calling to support Syrus around the corner that most of the Reds were in, but their voices were drowned out by the crowd.

Syrus had not been able to ignore the assembled crowd. Once they had appeared, I could see the nervousness in his eyes. I wasn't the only one who had noticed apparently. A tall and mildly obese guy in Red had walked up to Syrus and started talking to him. Syrus seemed happy to have him around, so I assumed this was the guy Chumley that Jaden had mentioned.

Hang on, it's still my turn!

"I attack you directly with Vanity's Hand!"

The hand changed its angle, tilting forwards until the palm was directly above Syrus. The pearly plates on the underside of the hand seemed to fold back so that the section facing Syrus was pitch black. Suddenly, a smog floated from the hand straight at my opponent. This was the end.

"I play Magic Cylinder!"

What?

"This card negates your attack and inflicts damage to you equal to the atk of the monster who's attack I negated!"

Two cylinders appeared, enormous in their appearance. One appeared in front of Syrus, collecting the smoke so that it wouldn't affect him. The second appeared in front of me, pouring the pollution on me.

I couldn't see at all. The haze was thick and suffocating, not just a hologram! This isn't any old card, this was dangerous.

It needs to be removed.

As the haze turned red, it thinned and disappeared. I took deep breaths to air out my lungs as Syrus was declared the winner.

End of Duel -

There were many shouts from the crowd. Some were yelling at me, abuse for losing to a Slifer. Others were yelling congrats at Syrus, who was filled with thrilled over his win. The crowd dissipated, with disgusted elitists and joyous underdogs heading for their dorms. At the end, only Alexis, Mindy, Bastion and I were left in the forest clearing that had been the location of the duel.

"Wow, you ARE strong!" Mindy really was one of those girls you couldn't dislike. "But how did you lose?"

"Well he had a monster's attack with 4000 power sent right at him. That was kind of hard to miss." Bastion wasn't in a good mood, but I doubt it was Mindy's question that was irritating him so.

"You're mean." Mindy's voice was different to her excitable tone that she'd addressed me with, but it wasn't sullen. It was jokey and light-hearted. I asked Bastion why he was in a mood, but he waved it aside and said he would be talking with me later.

"So how come you came to watch our duel?"

Alexis answered. "We couldn't get to sleep anyway coz of the noise you two made! After we were wandering around, the surge of light drew us towards you." I guess it was a beacon after all.

I took another look at Vanity's Hand. It the only card I had held onto rather than return it to the deck. I looked at its attribute and noticed something odd.

In Prof. Banner's class, we had been given a textbook at the end to look through. I had gone through the first few pages, but it was simple stuff, so I hadn't read on. It had said though that there were six attributes: Dark, Earth, Fire, Light, Water and Wind.

This monster is of the Divine attribute.

"Noah?"

The girls had noticed my lack of focus on the conversation that had continued after my detachment. "I'm fine, just tired I guess. I'll see you all tomorrow I guess?"

The girls agree and say bye. Bastion walks with me, but instead of walking in silence, he brought up something I didn't think I'd have to discuss.

"Where did you get that deck?"

Uh-Oh. "Why do ask?"

"Because I looked in the Industrial Illusions public record for cards in your deck. They say nothing about a series of Vanity cards and haven't made anything in your deck that I've seen so far except for Dark Hole, Vanity's Emptiness, Vanity's Ruler, Vanity's Fiend and Royal Decree." Really? "So I looked at European, American and African companies that also release cards and they haven't done your cards either. The last thing to assume is that they're fake, but we're all using Academy Duel Disks and they work with them, so there's no chance of any kind of hack."

Bastion's clever, but there's one thing I don't understand. "Why were you looking up my deck?"

My answer was a little more… mechanical than I'd expected. "In the dorm switch exams, we face duellists from our own dorms. As we're the two who got the highest scores in the entrance exam, we're obviously going to be pit against each other."

So right now, Bastion's supposed to be my enemy? He certainly seemed to be taking it that way, but it was more than that. He didn't see me as an equal or as a peer. He saw me as an obstacle to be overcome. Nothing more. Then again, should I be doing the same to him?

"How about we do a deal? I tell you a bit about my deck and you do the same."

Bastion mulled this over. He seemed genuinely stuck between a rock and a hard place over this. In the end he agreed. I told him that my deck used Light/Fairy and Dark/Fiend monsters and primarily stopped the opponent from activating their spell/traps and from special summoning . He said his deck functioned mathematically and scientifically, combining Hydrogeddon and Oxygeddon to make Water Dragon in some examples, compressing Carbongeddon to make Hyozanryu - a dragon made of diamond and that he combined the Magnet Warriors into Valkyrion - The Magna Warrior. I knew he'd be a difficult opponent to face and I honestly couldn't even hazard a guess on who would win just from these quick skate-overs. Then again, I doubt Bastion would have fallen for Magic Cylinder.

As we got back to the dorm and headed up the stairs, we went into our rooms and said goodnight. It took a while for me to fall asleep though because I was dwelling on two things.

The first was Vanity's Hand. It wasn't one of the six attributes, so what exactly was it? It had also had a physical effect of me and affected the real world, despite supposedly being just a hologram. I need to remove it from my deck until I know more about it, but how will I find out more? The only one analytic enough to find out more to my knowledge is Bastion Misawa, but that would mean I'd need to tell him everything about me. I'm not in a hurry for that to happen, so I'll need to find an alternate method, but unless I do…

The second was something I had noticed during the duel. During the surge of light, I had felt a massive pull towards the Volcano, as though there were something there I should be trying to find. Is that why I had been pulled there after class? Would I have been pulled further than the crater's edge if not for Alexis' company?

Mulling these thoughts over, I shut my eyes and drifted off to the land of our own rules for the second time in this bed.


End file.
